Holland Engineering Continues to Grow Their Relationship with SEMCO Energy

Over the past few years, Holland Engineering has provided staking assistance to SEMCO Energy for the installation of new gas main or service lines in Allegan and Ottawa Counties.

Although SEMCO Energy is headquartered in Port Huron, Michigan, they deliver natural gas to the southern half of the state's Lower Peninsula (including West Michigan) and currently provide natural gas to 299,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers. SEMCO Energy is anticipating 2015 will be another busy year. As the temperatures are slowly warming up to spring, Holland Engineering has already received requests to provide assistance on five projects.

Holland Engineering will provide easement and right-of-way staking for the purpose of ensuring the newly installed gas mains or service lines will be constructed within their respective easement or right-of-way. Prior to any field staking, Holland Engineering researches an extensive data base and works with the county road commissions to ensure that any road widenings and additional easements or right-of-ways are discovered prior to field staking. SEMCO Energy has proven to be a loyal client whom Holland engineering enjoys working with. Thank you SEMCO for the continued opportunity to assist you with our professional services!

Related

HEI’s Energy Group continues to remaining busy assisting our clients with facility design and engineering related services. Most recently, HEI assisted TransCanada with the installation of new 150 Hp Atlas Copco air compressors at three of their compressor stations located in Ohio, Kentucky and Mississippi. Holland Engineering is providing the installation design drawings for each location including the air piping, volume tanks, mist eliminators, air dryers, liquid drains, controls, structural modifications and cooling systems. At two of the stations, the compressors will be air cooled which requires a ducting design. The third location will be water cooled which requires a coolant system with controls, pumps, and fans.

The compressors are used to supply both starting air for TransCanada’s natural gas compressor engines and also instrument air for their pneumatic equipment in and around their facilities. This will add reliability to their air systems and in turn improve their ability to move gas throughout their cross country pipelines. HEI is pleased to have the opportunity to further assist TransCanada with our professional services.

For more information on our facility services, please contact Gary Smith, P.E., Energy Group Manager at 248.827.7322 or via email at gsmith@hollandengineering.com.

Holland Engineering Assists with Allegan County's First Wetland Septic System

The Outdoor Discovery Center/Macatawa Greenway is doing many exciting projects around the West Michigan area and Holland Engineering is excited to be supporting their efforts.

HEI is currently providing construction support services on a constructed wetland project, assisting with designs for a future trail extension and the addition of a new interpretive visitor’s center building on the main campus. This building will provide more space to display exhibits, a new welcome and information desk and increase classroom space.

HEI worked with the project team including ODC staff, CL Construction, and Lucid Architecture to develop a site plan that could accommodate the centers current and future growth needs while reducing environmental impacts. Due to the high groundwater table and site soil types, the property was not able to obtain a permit for a conventional on-site septic system and all the facility’s currently on the site were on a pump and haul system which was quickly becoming undesirable and costly. After a site meeting with the local health department an interesting idea was born and the site became a test cause for the first constructed wetland septic treatment system in the county.

Interacting closely with the Health Department staff, HEI created a design for the system and established a testing and user’s manual to ensure that the system is working for this site. The system will take standard septic tank effluent and pass in though a gravel-filled box, which is populated with several different types of wetland vegetation prior to discharge into a conventional drain field system. Plants are chosen specifically for their ability to filter out specific nutrients in the wastewater stream and therefore “clean” the water prior to discharge. This system will be closely monitored by ODC staff and reports provided to the health department will help determine if other system will be permitted in the area.

Holland Engineering Assists with Area's First Flying J Truck Stop

Pilot Flying J has opened a new Pilot Truck Stop on the south side of Holland. Construction is completed and the grand opening happened in November of 2015. This new facility is located at the intersection of M-40 and I-196 and will be the first Pilot Truck Stop in the area.

Holland Engineering worked closely with Pilot staff from initial site planning to survey, engineering and permit process and assisted with construction completion. HEI has been able to successfully navigate Pilot Flying J through the approval process which was especially challenging due to the presence of overlay districts for both M-40 and I-196. The overlay of these two districts dictated many items on this project including building placement, window layouts, sign heights and landscaping.

An additional challenge for this project was the design and simultaneous construction of a traffic safety improvement project through this corridor. This project, which was completed by MDOT utilizing some federal funding, involved the realignment of roads and the installation of new traffic signals to allow tractor-trailers leaving a nearby facility and the new Pilot Travel Center to make left turns onto M-40 at a traffic signal with a dedicated left turn light. HEI staff has worked closely with the Michigan Department of Transportation and the City of Holland Engineering Department keeping strong communication lines open through the project. Since one of the realigned roads will become the main entrance to the Pilot Travel Center site, HEI has maintained close communication with the Michigan Department of Transportation to fully understand their objectives and anticipate how timelines affected the opening of this project.

For more information on this project or on our site planning services, please contact Ryan Ysseldyke, P.E., Project Manager/Engineer at 616-392-5938 or via email at rysseldyke@HollandEngineering.com .

Holland Engineering "Tidies" Up Their Sweeping Program

For several years now, Holland Engineering's Surveying Staff have been assisting our clients with 4-Way Sweeping services in the field. A 4-Way Sweep is an investigative process in which electronic pipe locators and other means are used to find, trace, and help identify both underground and above ground utilities within a defined geographical location.

As our experience grows and the need for this service is in greater demand by our clients, Holland Engineering has proactively put together a comprehensive training program to guide and train our employees as they provide this service to our clients.

This training is an introduction to Underground Utility/Facility Detection. It also addresses the commonly used 4-Way Sweep process. The training includes a basic knowledge of equipment, planning and procedures to conduct sweeping and 4-Way Sweep processes utilized by Holland Engineering. This program was created through a combination of manuals, laws, other training guides and most importantly, the knowledge of Holland Engineering's most experienced Locator Teams/Sweep Crews. Every aspect of 4-way Sweeping and general facility location is covered in this training, but keep in mind that his is just a guide.

Though it is an essential tool, ultimately nothing can beat hands on training and a positive attitude on the part of crews doing the work.

The goals of the 4-Way Sweep Training Program are:- Safety- Damage Prevention- Route Planning
Holland Engineering is confident that our Sweeping Program will not only better equip our filed professionals with the skills they need to accurately complete our clients projects but will also assist us in maintaining an excellent safety record while in the field.

Holland Engineering Provides Short Circuit Analysis to Their Clients

Holland Engineering, Inc. is now performing short circuit analysis and arc flash calculations for our clients utilizing EasyPower System Software. HEI was awarded projects to upgrade the short circuit analysis and arc flash studies at TransCanada’s Woolfolk, Patterson and Eunice Compressor Stations. These updates are required due to on-going electrical modifications at those sites.

The work at TransCanada involves field verification of the updated electrical work and entering field data into the facility electrical one-line system model. Field data collected includes Circuit Breaker Manufacturer and Model, Motor Horsepowers, transformer ratings, power cable sizes and lengths.

Once the system has been modeled accurately, the model is tested to evaluate potential issues regarding high short circuit ratings and to ensure that circuit breaker settings are coordinated to properly protect the site equipment.

The program also calculates Electrical Arc Flash ratings and Labels which are required to be attached to most electrical equipment rated above 240 volts. These labels are required by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the labels identify the required Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) that qualified personnel are to wear when working on energized equipment. The labels also identify short circuit fault ratings and safe working distances from the equipment.

HEI is pleased to be above to assist our clients with their short circuity analysis needs. For more information on this project or on our services, please contact : Gary Smith, P.E., Energy Group Manager at 248.827.7322 or via email at gsmith@hollandengineering.com.

Holland Engineering, Inc. – Looking Back 40 Years

It all started on February 15, 1977, in an old residential building along Eighth Street, just east of downtown Holland.

With only four partners and one additional employee, the Holland Engineering, Inc. team was required to wear many hats. Original services included civil engineering, land surveying, and mapmaking services. During the day, they would work in the field as survey crews and return to the office in the evening to place telephone calls, perform computations, prepare drawings and research information for the next day’s work.

Since then, Holland Engineering, Inc. has grown to a staff of over 125 employees consisting of Engineers, Surveyors, CAD and GIS Technicians, Environmental Scientists and Administrative personnel. This growth would not be possible without the long-term goal of providing multiple design services for a variety of clients. In addition to the initial services, HEI currently provides structural engineering, energy consulting services for pipeline projects, added land surveying services, environmental consulting, wetland delineations and project management. Our client base includes private and public entities in the residential, commercial, industrial, municipal and energy markets throughout Michigan and across the United States.

During the past 40 years, HEI has adapted to changes in technology and has grown to meet the needs of our clients. However, our dedication and commitment to providing professional services with honesty, integrity and accuracy have not changed. We have built longstanding and mutually beneficial relationships with our clients to whom we are truly thankful.